


Episode One: Smoking Gun

by Cân Cennau (gwenynnefydd)



Series: Emyn's Deep Space Nine Season 8 [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Diplomacy, Documentary: What We Left Behind (Star Trek), Investigations, Multi, Murder Mystery, Season 8 Rewrite, Secrets, Section 31 (Star Trek), Spoilers for What We Left Behind (Documentary)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-26 05:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20384320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenynnefydd/pseuds/C%C3%A2n%20Cennau
Summary: After receiving a mysterious letter from Quark, the Deep Space Nine crew reunite on the old space station, just in time to see Nog’s ship fall out of the wormhole and burst into flames. Suspecting foul play, Ezri investigates, and finds out that Bajor is hiding secrets of its own.





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> yooooooo i've been sitting on this fic since last fucking year when I first saw the doc at Destination Star Trek! i saw their season 8,decided I hated it, and now I get to rewrite \o/

_ My friends, _

_ It has been twenty years… _

Even in the twenty-fourth century, letters had power. Letters to the right person, at the right time, had the ability to change the course of the future. While technology had expanded, and communication could be done face to face through holocalls, or face to face in a couple of days, letters were a stalwart of communication technology. Letters flitted between the Federation, Q’onos and Cardassia, arranging truces and peace meetings. Orders went to Joseph Sisko and Molly O’Brien, assigning them to Deep Space Nine to observe the delegations of Cardassians and Klingons coming to discuss peace under the eye of the Federation. Letters from Elim Garak to Julian Bashir came and went, and were rarely left unreplied. And in time, those letters would pull them all together one last time - Ezri Dax, Kira Nerys, Julian Bashir, Worf, Garak, Keiko and Miles O’Brien, Jale Sisko and his father Ben...

Quark knew that, knew the latinum value of it, and its emotional pull. So when Nog had asked him to arrange a meeting of all the old DS9 staff, Quark knew that a letter would be the only way to pull them all together. Across the galaxy, Jake Sisko saw the letter from Quark, and immediately deleted it. In another part of the galaxy, Keiko and Miles agreed to come along. Ezri altered her plans to include a fly-by of the old station. Garak, Kira, Worf and Julian did not need to reply, as they were already there. 

And near Bajor, near the epicentre of everything, Nog’s ship came flying through the wormhole, and burnt in a fiery explosion of flame and metal, his letter lost.

_ I hope you can be here. _

_ Quark _


	2. ACT ONE

_ Deep Space Nine _ , Jake thought,  _ had not really changed much at all _ .

Sure, the station was now a pilgrimage site rather than an active warcraft, but it still retained that post-Cardassian charm. The geometric Cardassian designs had been decorated with Bajoran banners, and the colours had been updated from somber metallic to warm earth tones, but the old station was still there. Jake could almost see his younger self running along the upper floors, sitting by the banisters and swinging his legs, hiding in the viewports when Odo was on his tail for some prank or another. The stores along the Promenade where he walked were both new and different - the Bolian restaurant was still running, as was Quark’s and the Celestial Cafe, but the Klingon restaurant had gone, and Garak’s Clothiers had been transformed into a small art gallery, currently displaying the work of Tora Ziyal. They had been friends, Jake thought with a slight pang of longing. He really should go and visit…

He dodged between Bajoran pilgrims and Starfleet personnel as he wandered the upper floors of the promenade. It had been so long since he’d been there. He barely recognized any of the faces he passed - he knew Kira was still here somewhere, having become a vedek-diplomat sometime after the war, and Doctor Bashir still ran the medical bay, but it seemed they weren’t out on the Promenade today. Not surprising really - today was an important day. The Klingons had finally agreed to peace talks with Cardassia, and the Federation had agreed to mediate the discussions on DS9, which is why the normally peaceable space station was indiscreetly peppered with security staff. And Jake only knew that because his brother Joseph had been assigned here - he hadn’t really kept up with Starfleet news, after Nog left for the Gamma Quadrant...

Jake finally spotted Joseph out by the window, watching the opening and closing of the wormhole. He looked so handsome now - far from the gawkish girl he had been, now a self-fashioned Starfleet man, just like his father, minus the beard. Joseph had always been the more cerebral of the two of them, Jake thought, and honestly Jake had not been surprised that Joseph had opted to join the Starfleet diplomacy corps the moment he had turned sixteen. And now, three and a bit years later, Ensign Sisko was on Deep Space Nine, on his second assignment, and Jake was visiting. It was like some cosmic circle had just completed itself.

“A beautiful old thing, huh?” he said, as he approached Joseph. “I always loved watching it.”

Joseph started, and turned to give him a wry smile. “Jake! What are you doing here?”

Jake gave an over-exaggerated shrug. “Can’t I come visit my little brother from time to time?”

He snorted. “You could. Or you could’ve waited five days until the Cardassian and Klingons went home, and I could’ve flown back to Earth.”

“I didn’t want to wait?”

Joseph’s expression was amused, but utterly disbelieving. Jake sighed.

“Okay, so  _ maybe  _ seeing you was just a bonus.” 

“ _ Knew  _ it. So why are you here?”

“Quark invited me.”

“And you came?”

“Well, no. He invited us all to witness Nog coming back from his first maiden voyage as Captain.” Jake smiled, soft and a little proud. “I initially deleted the invite, because Nog and I had already planned to meet up when he flew back to San Francisco.”

“But…?”

“I… well… It came to me in a dream? Like, Dad came in a dream, except it wasn’t a dream it was like a… vision? He suggested I come here. So I did.”

Had Joseph been anyone else, Jake would not have revealed that particular information. To the untaught ear it sounded like he possibly fell off the deep end. But Joseph, who was touching the  _ d’ja pagh  _ he had on his ear, understood intimately the connection between their father and the Prophets. Joseph had never known a time when Benjamin  _ wasn’t  _ the Emissary, had a childhood filled with their father visiting the prohpets and coming back full of stories, so news that his brother received a vision from him was not too out of the realm of reality to him. That was also the reason Joseph wore the  _ d’ja pagh  _ and Jake didn’t - the Prophets served as a reminder to Joseph of his father, whereas Jake had grown up and formed a connection without them.

“Where is Dad this time?” he asked, after a little while. “I know he’s on a mission, but I forgot where he was going.”

“He’s supposed to be out on Adigeon Prime, negotiating to end the brutal civil war they’ve got going on.” Joseph tilted his head, thoughtful. “He was probably Called again, while he was there.”

“I suppose so.” With one last look at the wormhole, Jake turned and headed down the Upper Level of the Promenade. “I’m going to go to Quark’s and say hi to everyone. You want to come?”

“Sure.” Joseph grinned. “I heard Molly’s here - the  _ Thunderchild III  _ dropped by for repairs.”

“Then let’s go find her - and I might say hi to Captain Tigan-Dax, if she’s here...”

Together, Jake and Joseph walked towards Quark’s. As they approached, the cheery chatter, clink of glasses, and occasional yells of “Dabo!” caused a certain thrill of nostalgia to run up Jake’s spine. Jake watched as Joseph politely stepped around groups of people, watching and taking everything in.  _ I wonder what his first impression of this old thing was? _ Jake thought. Hopefully better than his own, given that Joseph probably had a proper bed and quarters the first time he came here. But he had hoped Joseph liked it, maybe even felt the start of an attachment to the old mining facility, just like he and his father had.

As they approached Quark’s bar, fighting through the revelers and ducking under banners, it was not Molly O’Brien or Ezri Tigan-Dax they met first, but Doctor Julian Bashir. Jake knew he still worked on Deep Space Nine, having left Starfleet fifteen years ago to work for the Bajorans instead. He sat at the bar - older, far grayer, with many more wrinkles and crevices, but with that same boyishness Jake remembered, and that sparkle of amusement that always seemed to be in his eyes. He raised his hand in greeting, and the two brothers hurried over to greet him.

“Doc!” Jake smiled, shaking his hand as soon as he got close enough to grab it. “It’s great to see you - how are you doing?”

“Well enough, I suppose.” Julian replied, voice mellow and warm. “Been rushed off my feet for the last two weeks after we got hit with Kirkadian Flu, but that seems to have cleared up the last few weeks. And how are you, Joseph?”

“Fine, Doctor Bashir.” Joseph nodded. “The mission is going well - the Cardassians and the Klingons are fairly... calm about the whole thing. It’s been uneventful, at least.”

“Spoken like a true diplomat.” he laughed. “And Jake came to see you, all the way out here?”

“Actually, no.” Jake supplied. “I was invited by Quark, to watch Nog’s re-entry into the Alpha Quadrant.”

“Quark mentioned he was planning something for the occasion. I’ve seen Molly O’Brien, and she said her parents are coming. Ezri’s here, Kira’s here too, and Worf and Garak are coming as part of the negotiating teams…” 

“I guess the whole team’s back together.” Jake laughed, and Julian nodded, but before he could continue the conversation, Julian’s attention was drawn over his shoulder. Jake and Joseph both turned, just in time to see a very recognisable Cardassian descend the stairs into Quark’s. There was no-one, Jake felt, that would fail to recognise Elim Garak, Cardassian Ambassador to the Federation, on first sight. If it was not the gelled back gunmetal grey hair, or the highly fashionable lychee-themed tunic and trousers he wore, then he would’ve been recognised by the gleam of ill-concealed curiosity and amusement that seemed to glow out of every ridge and from his bright blue eyes. Behind him stood another Cardassian, half hidden in shadow, with a shock of long, frizzy white hair, a walking stick and scales that were a patchwork of slate grey and white vitiligo. That was, unless Jake had been following the wrong political newscasts, the Ambassador’s husband, Doctor Kelas Parmak. The doctor seemed to be watching the room curiously, and Jake wondered if this was their first time on the station, or even off Cardassia.

“Well,” Joseph said, after a moment. “We won’t keep you Doctor Bashir - I’m certain Ambassador Garak would like to see you.”

Julian nodded, relief too evident on his features. In one smooth move he left the chair and almost bounded over to the Cardassian pair. Garak’s features transformed into an almost blinding affection at the sight of Julian, and he wasted no time in greeting Julian with a kiss on the cheek and a close embrace. Kelas also greeted him, perhaps not in the same effusive fashion as Garak, but in the traditional Cardassian way of bringing their foreheads together in  _ anşūär _ . Together, the three of them made their way over to a small table at the back, and settled in to chat and talk, words clearly flowing easily between them.

“If those three aren’t together in some way,” Jake said, watching them settle down. “They absolutely will be by the time they leave.”

Joseph shook his head. “Always the romantic.”

“Can you tell me I’m wrong?”

Joseph was saved from the resulting bicker by the arrival of Molly O’Brien, who immediately hugged Joseph with a bright grin. No longer the young, wide-eyed girl Joseph remembered, Molly had grown into a cheery Starfleet ensign, who now bore a remarkable resemblance to her father. With hair twisted into a curly, slightly untidy bun, and her dark eyes offset by bright lilac eyeliner, there was no doubting there was a little trickster hiding under the prim and proper Starfleet uniform. Once she had hugged Joseph nearly half to death, Jake too was enveloped in brown arms and violet perfume.

“It’s so great to see you again.” Jake said, leaning out of the embrace to look her over proper. “How are you?”

“I’m doing  _ fine _ , thank you. The  _ USS Thunderchild III  _ bumped into a radiation storm on our way here, but no lasting damage. Captain Tigan-Dax easily got us out of it.”

She nodded over to the other side of the bar, and Jake looked to see Ezri sat at the bar. Chatting to Quark, Ezri looked far more relaxed and happy than what Jake remembered. While fine lines scattered across the peach of her skin and skated around her Trill spots, her bright blue eyes were still young and mischievous as she jesticulated to Quark about something or other. Ezri was only a few years older than Jake, and yet she looked more put together and wise than he ever could. Perhaps it came with the job title. 

“I’m glad you’re both fine.” Joseph said, after a little while. “Those storms can be nasty.”

“I  _ know _ . We managed to blow out one of the aft-phasers, but that’s nothing Tamita and her crew here on Bajor can’t fix.”

Joseph smiled. “Have you seen your wife yet? How is she?” 

“Tamita’s fine from what I know, but I haven’t seen her yet. She told me she’s been assigned to Deep Space Nine for a few weeks to do some engine maintenance and help out with ship repairs - I do hope we can take a holiday while I’m on shore leave…”

“Is that likely?” Joseph asked lightly. “How many of your dates have been interrupted? Your luck is  _ awful,  _ if I remember rightly.”

“Oh don’t even  _ mention  _ it.” She gave an overdramatic groan, rolling her eyes. “What was the thing that interrupted our last holiday? Oh yes, the  _ Kraken. _ ”

“This was when we served under Nog on Risa when he was a Lieutenant-Commander.” Joseph added in an undertone to Jake, who looked bemusedly at both of them. “The warped tachyon eddie from the Medusa Cascade drifted too close to Risa.”

“Because space-time reality just  _ had  _ to break when Tamita and I were at the spa.” 

“And the Kraken came crawling out of the spring where you two were…”

“Sitting and  _ talking,  _ don’t insinuate anything else - having a nice chat then a giant crabby leg rises from the deep-”

“That’s right, some deeply intense  _ talking- _ ”

As Molly and Joseph bantered like the old friends they were, Jake took the time to wander around the room. The room was busier now - the Cardassian and Klingon negotiating teams had obviously just clocked off and come down to the bar to relax. He passed Ezri, who spared him a smile before returning to her conversation with a gruff looking Worf, whose age only made him look fiercer. Keiko and Miles O’Brien, who somehow looked like they’d not aged a day, gave him a wave as he passed by, from where they had joined Julian and the Cardassian retinue. Jake waved back, but didn’t speak to them for long - although he liked them, he’d never quite shaken the “teacher outside of school” weirdness of the conversation. Instead, he joined Quark at the bar, and they exchanged small talk about Nog, about business, and about whether he was old enough for a Samarian Sunset (which he  _ was _ , but it had become a running joke since Jake had first asked for it when he was sixteen).

“I’m only disappointed that Rom couldn’t make it to his son’s return.” Quark told him, as he served his drink. “Really! He might be the Grand Nagus now but that’s no way to treat your son!”

“I guess Nog and him are going to meet up later.” Jake said reasonably. “Everyone else is here, though. Well, except Odo.”

“I don’t even know if Odo got my letter.” Quark snorted. “How do you send a letter to a lake? He could’ve at least left a forwarding address…”

Jake smiled sympathetically, and continued to sip his drink as Quark nattered on. Even with the weight of those larger lobes Ferengi got with age, he still seemed as spry and as chatty as ever. Jake was about halfway through his glass when he suddenly noticed the crowd on the top level of Quarks begin to part, as if in reverence. Some of the patrons bowed to whoever it was, and Jake suspected he knew who that was. When Vedek Kira came to the top of the stairs, he wasn’t surprised at all, and raised his glass in greeting. Kira smiled in response, and it wasn’t all that different from before, although her hair was now white and half covered with the traditional Bajoran  _ kappja _ , and her face was heavily lined with age lines and wrinkles. When he was younger, Jake would fear her, but now he felt a deep kind of respect and awe, for what she had become and what she stood for. As she descended the stairs, she gave nods and welcomes to both the Bajorans and visitors to the station, but she did not linger, instead heading straight towards the bar.

“Quark,” Kira said, as soon as she came close. “Thought I should tell you personally that we’ve got a ship coming through the wormhole. I think it’s him.”

Quark clapped his hands together, and grinned a wide smile with far too many teeth. “Thank you, Major - everyone, into the holosuite! Let’s give my nephew a big Deep Space Nine welcome home!”


End file.
